A Pro-Life Message for the Culture

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This week the House of Representatives passed HR1797 – “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act”. This bill will restrict abortions from 20 weeks forward in all 50 states. Of course the Senate will ignore the bill and President Obama, the most abortion minded president this country has ever seen, would veto it if it reached his desk. The House took up this legislation in light of the Kermit Gosnell conviction in Philadelphia a few weeks ago and the usual rhetoric from the left has surfaced. Nancy Pelosi is recorded as saying “yet another Republican attempt to endanger women. It is disrespectful to women. It is unsafe for families and it is unconstitutional.” It is always interesting to me how the Constitution is always brought into this debate and yet Nancy Pelosi also said, when asked directly by a reporter about Gosnell, that this should not be about politics because this issue of a woman’s right to choose was “sacred ground” to her as a practicing Catholic. The last time I looked at the Constitution I saw a phrase in there that said we have the “RIGHT TO LIFE.” Interesting, I know. When it comes to the abortion debate, Mrs. Pelosi is happy to invoke the Constitution when she feels like something has trampled on her right or anyone’s right to choose death, but when faced with the real question of the murder of innocent lives, we need to leave the Constitution out of the debate because it’s not a political issue. I just wish for once, our politicians would stop talking out both sides of their mouth and face the truth here. The plain and simple truth is that abortion is MURDER! There is no way around this, the medical facts prove that a fetus is a living human being and he/she can most definitely feel pain when killed in the gruesome manner of a late term abortion.

This bill passed the house by 228-196 margin, with six democrats voting in favor of the legislation. This really is a victory, even if the Senate does ignore the bill. It’s a victory for the pro-life movement because this legislation seeks to restrict and not merely control the abortion procedure. Marjorie Dannenfeiser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List said this is what makes this legislation different from past pieces of abortion legislation. She has indicated that this is a significant step forward in the fight to end all abortion in America. Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, called it “the most important pro-life bill to be considered by the U.S. Congress in the last 10 years.” I also believe this is a victory for the Pro-life movement because it keeps this issue on the national stage. The last thing we want is for the debate to die out because Gosnell is in jail now and for people to think – “wow, glad that’s over, hope nothing like that will ever happen again.” This is happening all over the country! If you live in Maryland, it’s happening right in your own back yard in Germantown as Carhart continues to perform late term abortions with no consequences over Jennifer Morbelli’s death. The Maryland Department of Health has decided that there was no malpractice by Carhart and no reason to revoke his license. We know that abortion is malpractice and is a blight on the medical profession. We know through Abby Johnson’s ministry (And Then There Were None) how difficult it is for abortion clinic workers to leave the profession. It’s like a black mark on their resumes to have to put down that you worked as an abortion provider or a clinic worker. Why is that? Because deep down everyone knows that all abortion is bad and all abortion is wrong. However, if I had to put this in categories, late term abortion would be worse than abortion in the first trimester because of the brutality involved and the pain that is felt by the baby. This is why this legislation is important – because it restricts and not just controls the abortion procedure. This debate must stay fresh in people’s minds and this legislation will help facilitate keeping the debate front and center.

As the Kermit Gosnell trial has been proceeding, I’ve remained silent for no other reason than this is all so gruesome I just could not bring myself to even read the reports. I sit back at times and I wonder who these people are, the likes of Carhart, Gosnell, and any other abortion provider? How do they sleep at night? If they have even the smallest amount humanity in them, they certainly are aware that they are killing another human being when they perform abortions. But then, I have to even wonder if they even are human anymore. Are they so influenced by the enemy of our souls and so driven by him to destroy the image and likeness of God that there is no humanity left. I don’t know the answer to that question, only God does and that is for Him to deal with and for us to continue pray for these individuals.

I felt like the time had come to speak out about Gosnell because of an article I read in the Huffington Post. The Huffington Post is a liberal online newspaper and they posted an article on March 26, 2013 entitled “The Questions No One Is Asking About The Kermit Gosnell Case” by Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League). Her article asks with such unbelief – How could this happen? How in this country where abortion has been legal for 40 years could such a thing ever happen. Her answer was astonishing to me. Ms. Michelman surmised that this happened because the state of Pennsylvania was so intent on passing abortion restricted legislation and completely missed the fact that someone was performing a medical procedure unsupervised. But had this clinic been a Planned Parenthood clinic there would have high medical standards set in place these tragedies could never have occurred. Wow – really???? I don’t know, maybe we should consider the high standards that were put in place at the Delaware Planned Parenthood clinic and compare tragedies. According to Operation Rescue, the Planned Parenthood clinic in Delaware had four botched abortions in the span of five weeks and to top it off they are a training facility for other abortion providers! Now that’s what I call a high standard. According Operation Rescue, fifiteen new abortionists a year are trained in these high quality medical procedures at the Wilmington, DE clinic.

According to Ms. Michelman “Reputable, careful providers of high quality abortion care are under attack” and “the number of abortion providers in the United States declined 38 percent between 1982 and 2005.” Additionally, Ms. Michelman states:

“To compound the provider shortage problem, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a new law in 2011 modeled after a bill on the wish list of the National Right To Life Committee: mandating that the remaining handful of abortion providers come into compliance with volumes of costly regulations designed for ambulatory surgical facilities where much more complex surgeries take place. Today, there are just 13 freestanding providers of surgical abortion care in Pennsylvania, down from 22 two years ago.”

I would think this would make her happy. The Pennsylvania legislature has mandated that abortion facilities come into compliance with regulations designed for surgical facilities. She stated earlier in her article when asking the question of how this happened that the reason was “our policymakers have never viewed abortion as a medical procedure.” Seems to me that the 2011 law takes care of that problem.

Simply stated – abortion is NOT healthcare and never will be. It is a greedy money making institution that seeks to repress minority groups by making them believe that providing abortions at low or no cost is adding quality to their healthcare. There is no care for women here whatsoever, regardless of any social or financial standing. There is only the “love of money; which is a root for all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

The Governor of North Dakota, Jack Dalrymple is about to sign into law a bill banning abortions in North Dakota after 6 weeks which is an absolutely amazing step in the right direction for a change. In addition, there is a second bill on the Governor’s desk that will also ban abortions when a fetal abnormality has been discovered. (If a ban on abortions in the case of a fetal abnormality was universal, we know that Jennifer Morbeli would most likely be alive today.) In a time when “blue” states are looking for ways to loosen the abortion restrictions even further, this is a bright light shining in the darkness. Aside from this new restriction, North Dakota only has ONE abortion clinic in the entire state and even then women must wait 24 hours between scheduling an appointment and arriving at the clinic. Once she is in the clinic there is counseling, verification of pregnancy, and testing that could last up to five hours, all things that could slow down the decision to go through with the abortion. North Dakota also does not take Medicaid money for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or protecting the life of the mother. According to an article in Time magazine, we are definintely trending in the right direction.

“In the past two decades, laws like the ones that govern appointments at Red River have been passed with regularity as pro-life state legislators have redrawn the boundaries of legal abortion in the U.S. In 2011, 92 abortion-regulating provisions–a record number–passed in 24 states after Republicans gained new and larger majorities in 2010 in many legislatures across the country. These laws make it harder every year to exercise a right heralded as a crowning achievement of the 20th century women’s movement. In addition to North Dakota, three other states–South Dakota, Mississippi and Arkansas–have just one surgical-abortion clinic in operation. The number of abortion providers nationwide shrank from 2,908 in 1982 to 1,793 in 2008, the latest year for which data is available. Getting an abortion in America is, in some places, harder today than at any point since it became a constitutionally protected right 40 years ago this month.”

This is finally some good news to read and should inspire us all to keep praying and know that there is hope; little by little the light will dispel all of the dark places in the land!

Planned Parenthood has released a brand new logo in celebration of their victory this week by the re-election of Barack Obama. In a press release that the abortion giant put out on Tuesday they claim:

“This is a resounding victory for women. More than ever before, women’s health was a decisive issue in this election. Americans today voted to ensure that women will have access to affordable health care and be able to make their own medical decisions,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

“This election sends a powerful and unmistakable message to members of Congress and state legislatures all around the country that the American people do not want politicians to meddle in our personal medical decisions, and that politicians demean and dismiss women at their own peril,” Richards said.

This is hardly a victory for women. Along with the new logo, the new tag line is “Care. No matter what.” Really? I’m wondering how are women being cared for when there is story after story from organizations such as Live Action, Life News, and Life Site News concerning the number of women who are injured from botched abortions performed at Planned Parenthood clinics. I’m also baffled about the issues around sex selection and abortion that is so heavily promoted by Planned Parenthood. Thanks to Live Action, this horror has been exposed. Is this “Care. No matter what” to encourage women to abort their child because it happens to be a girl? What has happened to us in America? Planned Parenthood invested $15 million dollars in getting Barack Obama re-elected. Now that’s been accomplished and Cecile Richards further states that“we will focus on working with lawmakers at all levels, from all political parties, to ensure that millions more Americans can get the health care they need.”

This is all very confusing. On the one hand, Ms. Richards states that the American people do not want politicians to meddle in our personal medical decisions, yet on the other hand, she suddenly wants to begin working with politicians on both sides of the aisle to make sure that we all get the health care we need. Well, which is it Ms. Richards? You can’t have it both ways. Either Planned Parenthood wants the government involved, so they can continue funneling our tax dollars into the abortion industry or Planned Parenthood doesn’t want them to “meddle”.

So, what do we do with all of this? We NEVER give up. We are the church militant! We continue to be persistent in our pro-life efforts. We continue to pray at abortion clinics, we continue to march for life, and we continue to reach people one soul at a time. The best thing that I’ve read so far are the words of Archbishop Craig Bates, the Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. He said the following – “We must reach out to single women who have been deceived into believing that the right to choose an abortion is freedom rather than inflicting upon themselves guilt and torment that could last for years.” Preserving the sanctity of life is the most important issue facing our nation today, not the economy as some may think. I believe God will bless the economy when we honor Him by preserving the sanctity of human life. It is the image and likeness of God that is being destroyed in every abortion and as we reach out to single women, as Archbishop Bates suggests, we have the opportunity to reach them with the truth that they were fearfully and wonderfully made as well as the child they carry.

I can only say what a blessing it was to me to have the opportunity to participate in the 40 Days for Life campaign for the very first time. I had no idea what to expect or how this was going to work out, especially since the time slot I ended up choosing was a 6AM slot. God’s grace was definitely with me throughout the time, enabling me to keep the commitment and be on site to pray everyday of my commitment with a few exceptions – the morning I blew a tire on my way to the clinic and the 2 mornings after hurricane Sandy – I prayed without being at the abortion clinic.

Some mornings were harder than others, no doubt, but God was so faithful to meet me in prayer and to give me amazing things to pray. There were times that I surprised myself with some of things I heard myself praying.

As far as Dr. Carhart’s Germantown abortion clinic is concerned, I believe we accomplished much in the Spirit. The campaign director for Germantown sent out this information to all of us:

700+ hours of prayerful presence on Wisteria

-over 500 prayer warriors from 20 churches joining together

-No abortions for two weeks!

This is exciting news, especially the fact that there were no abortions for two weeks in row in Germantown. The information out of the international campaign is just as exciting. The final numbers are not in yet but so far we know that globally 608 babies have been saved from abortion.

The devotional below that was sent out to all 40 Days for Life prayer warriors after the 40th day. It makes realize that there are multiple ways to storm the gates of Hell. Prayer, of course is number one. But today is election day in the United States and by casting our votes on behalf of life is another way of coming against the gates of Hell!

INTENTION
Pray that the witness of 40 Days for Life bears abundant fruit, and that we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until God welcomes us into the gates of heaven.

SCRIPTURE
On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
— Matthew 16:18

REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone

When we read this verse, we usually think that the Lord is promising that the church, which is His Body, will withstand all the attacks launched against it. Of course, that is true. But when we think about it more carefully, we realize that in a battle, the gates do not run out into the battlefield to attack the enemy. Rather, they stand still to defend the city from the enemy attacking it. So when the Lord says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, who is doing the attacking? It is the church storming the gates! The church, all of God’s people in Christ, is called to take the offensive, to run into enemy territory, and to gain ground for Jesus Christ. We do not wait for an invitation; we already have a command. We prepare, but we do not wait for circumstances to be perfect; we already have one who has gone before us.

During these 40 days, we have stormed the gates. We have taken the offensive. We have pushed forward the boundaries of the kingdom. And we must keep doing so, in numerous ways. Indeed, the gates of hell will not prevail. The gates of falsehood will flee in the presence of truth. The gates of sin will melt in the presence of grace. The gates of death will fall in the presence of the church, the People of Life!

PRAYER

Father, we praise you. We have heard the voice of your Son, and therefore we can make our voices heard. We have done battle with the power of evil, and therefore we can have compassion on those still within its grip. We have been freed from the kingdom of darkness, and therefore we can bear witness to your Kingdom of Light.

May the witness of all your people through these 40 Days for Life bear abundant fruit, and may we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until You welcome us into the gates of heaven. We pray in the victorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

It’s a Romans 1 kind of world! I’m praying this week for the pro-life counselors and for the Lord to shine through these courageous people as they meet the lie of the culture head on. Pro-life counselors are faced with trying to show abortion minded women the truth and combat all of the lies that have been fed to women in our society by the likes of Planned Parenthood and even other people of faith who choose to believe their own truth. In Romans chapter 1, in The Message it says:

“But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.”

These verses of scripture say a lot. It says people know full well who God is and they know what is right and what is wrong and therefore they have no excuses. However, the bottom line is that people decided they know it all and they know better than God. They decided they could be God. But hasn’t that been going on since the Garden? Satan convinced Eve that the reason God did not want her to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden was because it would make her like Him, as if God were threatened by Eve becoming like Him. What Eve did not realize was that she was already like God. She was created in His image and likeness and this is what Satan has been trying destroy since that moment!

Please continue to pray for the courageous pro-life counselors who are fighting against the lies perpetuated by the abortion industry. Please pray for the pro-life counselor who is faced with trying speak the truth to the abortion minded woman who believed the lie and traded the glory of God for a cheap figurine.

We are now in the final week of the 40 Days for Life Campaign around the world. The campaign officially ends this Sunday, November 4, 2012. The scheduling of prayer and vigil around the clock before abortion clinics will come to end for awhile, but the prayer to end abortion will never stop until an abortion-free nation becomes a reality.

This week, I want to focus my prayer on the counselors who work so diligently to show women the truth about their pregnancy and the truth about abortion. But today, as I reflected on the woman who is potentially 5 months pregnant and seeking a late term abortion, I thought about adoption. I guess I still do not understand how someone could have carried their child for five months and know that they will deliver their child in four months or less and yet they are still willing to kill that child. This mother has felt her child kick and has watched the child grow as she has grown and certainly there is no way that she can deny she is carry a human life. Why not finish out those last few months and allow the child a chance to live and fulfill a destiny.

There are many arguments that say that there are plenty of children in foster care who should be adopted first. Well, you know what, that’s true. But, what is also true is that those children are not being adopted for a variety of reasons. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, an organization of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in February of 2011 published an article on adoption trends. This article stated that there were 115,000 children in foster care in 2011 but those seeking to adopt do not want children who are older, or who have a sibling, or who may have endured maltreatment. Overwhelmingly, those who are seeking to adopt want a child who is 2 years old or younger and is a single child without any behavioral issues. Interestingly, physical illnesses are not an impediment to adoption. LiveAction published an article in May of 2012 in which they quoted a source known as the Business Library which said: “there are up to 36 couples waiting for every one baby placed for adoption.” The quote goes on to say:

“In the USA, there are approximately two million infertile couples waiting to adopt, many times regardless of the child’s medical problems such as Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, HIV infection or terminally ill. Dr. Brad Imler, President of America’s Pregnancy Helpline, confirms the challenge of waiting couples by stating: “Only 1% of the Helpline’s annual 40,000 clients inquires about adoption.”

Pray this week for an increase in adoptions nationwide. This is so much safer and healthier for everyone involved and the child has a chance.